Calinurse - sorry for the confusion...the town with the mediation center was indeed Thirpunam Kundram and we visited it at night. For the life of me, I don't recall the name of the little village we stopped at the next morning - it was not the same village as the one we spent time at night.

My husband woke up this morning with stomach problems again and did not join me for breakfast. This time he immediately took his medicines. At 10:00 our driver picked us up and we set out for our final day's journey to Mamallapuram. Originally I had anguished over whether to visit Kanchipuram instead and had hoped to visit both in one day. Our driver encouraged us to visit Mamallapuram as the temples and rock formations are different from what we had seen. I am so glad that we took his advise...what a great final day I had! Given my husband's condition, visiting both in one day would have been impossible.

Unfortunately, I can't say that it was my husband's favorite day as he stayed in the car for most of the attractions while our driver accompanied me to see the sites.

Mamallapuram was much larger than I had anticipated and it is a place that many tourists come and stay overnight or for several days of relaxation at the beach and for the ruins. Historians believe that it was once the site of a training school for sculptors. The city has monolithic shrines and rock-cut cave temples scattered over a landscape heaped with boulders and a rocky terrain. I regretted not staying overnight as I was told that it is spectacular to see the sunrise and sunset with the rocks and temples in the background. I would suggest an overnight here and personally would stay only one night in Pondicherry.

Leaving Mamallapuram, we stopped at a very nice air conditioned restaurant with great toilet facilities. Again, my husband passed on food.

Approaching Chennai we saw many expensive apartments and villas. We could tell we were getting close to a richer area. We passed a large amusement park for families called "Dizzy World" and we wondered if they were trying to make an Indian version of Disneyworld!

Since it was only 4 pm, our driver suggested driving through chennai where he would show us Marina Beach, the second largest beach in India. While chennai is not a tourist destination, it is a nice tree lined city with a nice beach area. Small kiddie rides and food vendors lined the beach. The beach area was huge with a great distance from the parking lot to the water. Horseback riders were seen occasionally
And many people were out enjoying the day.

As it is 5:15 pm and our driver has a long journey ahead of him, we have instructed him to take us to their airport where we will await our plane.

At 6:00 upon arriving at the chennai airport, we learned that once we were in the airport, we could not leave, but we couldn't go through security to use the business class lounge or the restaurants until Qatar airlines issues our tickets. We are told that Qatar opens at 11 pm so we'll have a long wait on hard metal chairs. There are several coffee stands with light snacks so my husband purchased a brownie, his first food of the day. He will have to wait till after 11:00 for anything more substantial. For future travelers, I suggest going to either the Trident or Radison Hotel for dinner and remaining there until approximately 4 hrs before your departure time. We had originally planned that, but given that my husband did not want much to eat, we thought we'd wait in the lounge. Oh well. The good news is that I am at a charging station and have my iPad to read on.

More info on the airport and lounge once we are permitted entry.

Ugh...5 hrs later and 4 hrs before flight, Qatar finally checked us in. We went straight to the lounge which is very nice. Comfortable chairs and decent food. It's already midnight and we were starving. And so...our trip ends. I will post other thoughts later. Thank you all again for following along.

At 6:00 upon arriving at the chennai airport, we learned that once we were in the airport, we could not leave, but we couldn't go through security to use the business class lounge or the restaurants until Qatar airlines issues our tickets. We are told that Qatar opens at 11 pm so we'll have a long wait on hard metal chairs. >>

I suppose that otherwise the lounges would get full up with people waiting for flights many hours in advance but still - not very good with your DH feeling ill again.

I've enjoyed your trip very much, dgunbug [possibly more that you did at times] and am so grateful for your taking the time to post it as you went along, which gave it a real sense of immediacy.

Hope your return trip is totally event free and that you arrive home safely.

Sorry dgunbug, forgot about that when you mentioned waiting in the airport. I have been denied admittance to Indian airports until two hours before flight time, so you were lucky to be allowed in at all. I think this applies all/most Indian and Pakistani airports, and maybe other Asian airports as well. Probably a combination of security and keeping out the hoi polloi.

So sorry your trip has ended with this airport frustration.

Many thanks for your wonderful report. It had such vibrancy, as it was posted live, and expressed how you felt at the time, at each location.

Wishing you a pleasant flight home.

Best wishes ... Ger

anxious to read your followup thoughts on the south.

welcome home june.

The airport delay was only a small hiccup in our trip as we had anticipated a long day of travel anyway. If you can't cope with problems, you might as well stay at home as inevitably there are always difficulties along the way. On this trip we had more than our share with joint illnesses at different times! Still, we come away from this experience with many pleasurable memories and are glad to have revisited India.

Did we enjoy the trip as much as our first trip to India - probably not, but here are my thoughts on that:

1. Our first trip to India was a novel experience and many of the things we saw on this trip were similar. This is not to say that I was not wowed by many of the sites we visited or delighted by the cultural differences and our interaction with the people. I think that a first time experience is always the most exciting. For example, we visited Gwalior four years ago and saw Hindi carvings along the mountainside leading up to the fort. That was our first experience with cave type carvings. Our later experiences seeing caves at datong, China, and in several other places were great, but I think the first experience was the most exciting.

This can be applied to my experience in the backwaters of Kerala. We have taken incredible boat trips in the Mekong Delta, Halong Bay and tonle sap (siem reap), which we thought were more extraordinary both in scenery and activity on the waterways. Also, the landscape is not greatly different from that in our own back yard in Florida with palm trees and water.

2. I believe the Kerala area is changing. Our driver indicated that roads and housing were all very different from just months ago.
3. For someone seeking a relaxing vacation with spa treatments and pool time, Kerala would be a wonderful destination, with its backwaters and hillside destinations. That is not what we were looking for. Despite the fact that we were hampered by being sick, there was little to see and we were bored. We are rarely, if ever bored on a trip.

4. In retrospect, I stand by my original statement about loving Hampi. There was probably more to do by the riverside, but mobility issues and my own illness hampered (pun intended) us from fully enjoying the experience.
5. I loved Tamil Nadu and also Mumbai. So many beautiful temples and the India that I remembered.
6. The towns that we visited in Rajastan were all unique in their own way and they had more of a city center making it more conducive for walking around. In the south, the cities and villages seem to be more sprawled out with no particular area to explore. There are fewer actual sites to visit.
7. If we were to do this trip over, we would eliminate Ooty & Conoor as similar but even better scenery was found in Munnar. While we had memorable experiences that we will cherish in both those places, IMO there was too much redundancy and too much driving. The mountain paths while not great distances, made for slow going and long days in the car. I seemed to have thought that the redundancy may have been a mistake when planning this trip, but I didn't follow my instincts.
8. I would visit the backwaters, but limit my time to a day in Cochin and another for a boat ride. We had way too much time on our hands and as already stated, didn't think it was particularly interesting.

Overall, we thought our trip to be successful. Our driver was outstanding, both in his excellent skills navigating the roads and the wealth of information he provided. He was truly a pleasure to spend time with. I think having a good driver who can communicate well makes an incredible difference. If anyone would like further information regarding this driver, I have his contact information.

Sharing my experiences from the road was as nice for me as I hope it was for you and I appreciate your comments and suggestions along the way.

We are on our last leg of the trip, traveling back to Miami from Qatar. And now we must ponder where to travel to next.

Many, many thanks for taking us along with you on your trip! It was really great to experience it vicariously, and I've appreciated your honesty about what works and what didn't. I'm very glad to hear that the trip was overall a satisfying iPhone, and that you bounced back to fully enjoying your travels as you entered Tamil Nadu.

I'm in the early stages for a (much briefer) trip for 2017, and your TR has been and will be a huge help in my own planning.

Welcome home. - and, once again, thanks for taking the time to write this up!

Thanks again, June, for taking me along for the ride. You've helped put India back on my mind in my on-again, off-again flirt with the idea. Wishing you and Mike a smooth ride the rest of your journey back home.

great final thoughts... should K & I return to Rajasthan or do a southern loop??

Bob - its hard for me to say. Mike and I definitely thought that the Rajastan area had more to offer, but the tea plantations of Munnar were lovely and Tamil Nadu's temples were great. It really depends if you want to spend time relaxing and chilling out. We were sorry we missed Calcutta which was just too far away and we would also have liked seeing amistar for the golden temple. It is nice to see that there is another side of India, where most people are not begging and are relatively healthy and more educated. Have you thought of going to Sri Lanka? I certainly wouldn't return to places you have already visited. There's so much more to see.

I so agree with June's comment about the need to take into account the places one has already traveled (and where one lives) when trying to decide upon an itinerary and the "wow" factor it will produce. I know on our trip to Kerala last year we had a few too many destinations with spice plantations and got to the "I don't need to see another pepper vine again" point. On our trip to the south we stayed in Conoor (with a day trip to Ooty) and did not visit Munnar. We also saw tea plantations when in Wayanad in Kerala. For future trips anywhere in the world, I certainly wouldn't go out of my way for us to see a tea plantation. So, careful planning to avoid redundancy is needed.

Since we too are thinking about our next trip, we've noticed it does become more difficult to try to find new destinations that are completely different from where one has been before. Choice of destination also depends on what types of lodging choices one likes, the activities one wants to partake of, one's fitness level, one's need for luxury and/or hand-holding, and the length of time one has for a trip.

To Bob--We've made two trips to Rajasthan and saw very different and very interesting places on both trips. I can provide suggestions of places not commonly visited on a typical itinerary. But, these appealed to us, and they might not appeal to your travel style. Last year we spent 6 weeks in the south and definitely had our favorites there too. Another locale we really enjoyed that no one here even mentions is Mandu.

Incidentally, as a result of the trip to Laos and Cambodia we just returned from, I am starting to think more about flying more between different areas. This would work for India too, and one could spent time doing the best of the best in a larger area.

June--Glad your trip ended safely and with some enjoyment at the end. And, you were lucky you didn't really encounter any terribly oppressive heat.

What an amazing live blog report Dgungbug. I enjoyed every twist and turn. It is circa 30 years since I covered a very similar itinerary. To read of the increasing current prosperity of some of the Region whilst at the same time retaining so much of their past heritage is amazing. Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into your daily updates.

Julie - regarding future trips, we are actually looking for a destination that will be much different next time and think that Japan may fit the bill. After a second trip to India, clean is very appealing! Myanmar had been high on my list, but my husband is leery about flying there and between cities due to the air traffic safety issues. Quite frankly, I'm a bit concerned about emergency health care in third world countries, especially since my husband has had several afib episodes during the last year. After hearing the story of one of our fodorite members hospitalization after being struck by lightening, it makes me a bit concerned to travel where health care is substandard. Sicily and the Balkins are also high on my list. I have also wanted to travel to central Indonesia and Bali, but again, my husband refuses to fly there due to all the recent air safety issues they have had.

There are so many choices and so many places to go. I feel fortunate that I have explored so many interesting areas in this world and that my biggest problem is trying to decide where next to travel!

Agree with you Junebug...........After a long trip into S. India, sometimes the opposite affect is what we need to remind us the world is truly filled with different experiences. It is good you did not go to Kolkata. I believe you would have experienced the same level of poverty and sanitary conditions you've described at the beginning of your journey. The fact that Mother Teresa's charity is stationed in Kolkata says a lot. Japan is an opposite experience, for sure. But whatever you decide, I am hoping you will be willing to do a "live" TR as you've done here..............Such a good read! (and you are a good expressive writer!) thanks again.

"I feel fortunate that I have explored so many interesting areas in this world and that my biggest problem is trying to decide where next to travel!"
Beautifully put, Dgunbug!

Found your comparison of Munnar ad Ooty/Coonoor interesting and useful. On first trip to Southern India, I wondered which tea-covered hill area to visit. Ended up in Coonor, a town we loved, because, among other things, we wanted to ride on the "toy train" and also wanted an itinerary which include coffee plantations in the Coorg region.

I've seen rows of tea also in the Wayanad region (mentioned by Julie) and in the magnificent undulating terraces of pre-harvest North Vietnam, but still want to go to Munnar. Your comments about its comparative beauty are helpful in making this decision. Sure, there's that conflict for all of us, between desiring something totally different, vs seeing something wonderful, perhaps familiar but in different circumstances, especially when limited time is a factor.

God forbid I ever think like Ronald Reagan: "You've seen one redwood, you've seen them all" which is what came to mind, when reading a quote on this thread about Kerala being great if you've never seen a palm tree.

By contrast, what first motivated me to go to Kerala were the words of friend who'd lived in both Kerala and Hawaii: "If you love Kauai, you'll love Kerala." In my case, at least, that proved true.

With best wishes for good health and good sleep, to you and Mr Dgunbug! And again, thanks for a lively, honest, provocative, useful trip report!

<<I'm very glad to hear that the trip was overall a satisfying iPhone, and that you bounced back to fully enjoying your travels>>

And this is why I could never write a TR on an iPad or iPhone! I've no idea what exactly happened, but I meant to write ' a satisfying one'! Autocorrect strikes again!

Again thanks for your wonderful TR!

Don't know about the iPhone, but on my iPad I just turned autocorrect off. It still highlights what it thinks are errors, but I can ignore that if I choose. I wouldn't try using a phone for a TR until it gets really good voice recognition, and maybe not then - I'm too used to typing.

thanks all.

may I suggest Argentina for those who have not been there. a totally different place to Asia.

we also love returning to rural England, the Cotswolds, Germany and France, plus the low countries, Poland and other former eastern countries in Europe. we will be in Italy twice this year which never ceases to thrill us.

Sri Lanka pops on and off my list...I will rethink that one.

Progol - figured it was your autocorrect. Thursday - good to know you can turn it off. Just did that. The only problem is that I now can't blame my own mistakes on autocorrect! Bob - interesting thought on argentina. We'll have to consider that.

Again - all your kind words and advise have been greatly appteciated.